This is scary to consider, but what if we still haven't seen the best of David Johnson? What if Johnson, who cemented his status as the best all-around back in football by leading the league in yards from scrimmage last year, is still getting better?
It's certainly possible. According to the Cardinals' running back, he feels more energized and less fatigued this summer after he changed his diet a month ago.
As ESPN's Josh Weinfuss reported on Thursday, Johnson eliminated meat from his diet and switched to a plant-based diet after he watched two documentaries on Netflix.
"It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Johnson said. "I thought it would definitely be hard just because, as Americans, we're taught to eat a whole bunch of meat. It's not even just eating meat, it's the portions. What I've learned is that we're taught eating like 24 ounces of steak is a manly thing, when really you're only supposed to eat 8 to 10 as a portion."
The two documentaries? "What the Health" and "Forks Over Knives."
Johnson did introduce meat back into his diet, though, after he lost too much weight. According to ESPN, he reported to training camp at 223 pounds. Still, he's not consuming large portions of meat anymore.
"We've learned that meat is bad for you," he said. "But it's really where you get the meat from and how much you eat of that meat in each sitting, because most Americans eat lunch, dinner, supper and it's always meat and it's always a huge portion. We're just learning about that stuff."
Johnson will need to be at his best this year if he's going to meet his goal of becoming the third player in NFL history to accumulate 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a single season. He'll also need to be energized as the Cardinals are aiming for Johnson to average 30 touches per game, which has only happened once in NFL history.
Johnson is hardly the only NFL player to cut back on meat. According to Tom Brady's personal chef, 80 percent of what Brady eats is vegetables. The other 20 percent is lean meat. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once told ESPN that he eats a "vegan diet with some red meat at times and some chicken." Colin Kaepernick's vegan diet has been well documented.Those are just a few examples.
One person who won't be joining in on the plant-based approaches? Johnson's coach, Bruce Arians. On Friday, Arians told ESPN he followed a vegan diet for 27 days due to his doctor's orders. When he was asked what he enjoyed about the diet, Arians said, "Nothing."
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David Johnson eliminated most meat from his diet after watching two documentaries - CBSSports.com
